Passports? Check. Tickets? Check. Baby? Check. Brain? Unlikely!

Some parents prefer to downsize their traditional holiday arrangements once they have young children, swapping Lake Garda for Lake District, but then some parents feel obliged to even though they have always been bitten by the travel bug.

Holidays and longer distance travel shouldn’t be delayed due to the arrival of your new baby; in fact your next departure could be anytime soon if you are well prepared.

Below are just a few essential tips that may just help with that!

In the majority of cases, morning sickness stops after about 12 weeks. But one in 10 cases, women can continue to feel sick for longer into their pregnancy.

Although morning sickness and feelings of nausea can be really unpleasant, there are some remedies and self-help tips that you can try yourself to try and ease the discomfort.

However, if you

Whether by plane, train or automobile, it is always a good plan to have a few games up your sleeve that will help to while away the hours or distract a potentially grumpy toddler who just isn’t too enamoured by the journey so far.

Below is our list of top ten travel games, all cleverly designed by the world

After you’ve totted up the hours spent entertaining, feeding and cleaning up after your little one, me-time can sometimes seem rather hard to come by.Fortunately, there are now more opportunities than ever to relax and unwind, as Silver Cross has been finding out.

The trend began a number of years ago when health spas up and down the country began offering pregnancy treatments. Today, it

Ingredients

175g chopped dates
300ml water
1 tsp bi-carbonate of soda
50g butter
175g caster sugar
2 beaten eggs
175g self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
300ml double cream
50g muscovado sugar
100g butter

Method

Get the oven to 180 degree celcius and grease an 11″ x 1″ baking tin

Boil the dates in the water for about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (preferably in a food mixer or with and electric whisk).

Gradually add the egg whilst beating. Mix in the dates and liquid and fold in the flour and vanilla.

Pour into the baking tray and cook for 30 – 40 minutes.

To make the sauce, pop everything into a pan, heat and stir until is all smooth.

A deliciously light and fruity treat, ideal for those hot summer afternoons...

Ingredients

1kg bag frozen mixed summer fruits
1 white sliced loaf
300g granulated sugar
1/2 a cup of water

Defrost the summer fruits and place in a saucepan with the water and sugar. Heat the mixture gently until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit has produced plenty of juice.

Taste the mixture, add more sugar if required, then leave to one side to cool.

Line 8 dariole moulds (or small tea cups!) with cling film (leave a big overhang). Cut the crusts off the bread, then line the moulds/cups with the bread.

Spoon the fruit mixture into the bread- lined moulds/cups, making sure you add plenty of juice.

Cut a round slice of bread to go on the top, then wrap the overhanging cling film over the pudding.

Place in the fridge with a heavy weight (a tin of beans?) pressing the pudding down for two hours (overnight is preferable).

By the time you come to turn out the puddings, the juices will have soaked the bread, making them a beautiful red colour.

Serve with pouring cream or ice cream.

A lemony twist to this biscuit classic makes lemon shortbread utterly irresistable, especially when served with our lemon posset...

Ingredients

4 oz unsalted butter (soft)
2 1/2 oz caster sugar
Zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1 tsp juice
4 oz sifter plain flour

Method

Set the oven at 160 degree Celcius.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the zest and lemon juice and beat well.

Fold in the sifted flour. Press the dough together with your hands and then roll out as thin as you can and cut it into shapes with a biscuit cutter or knife.

Place them onto a buttered baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes or until they are a pale gold colour.

Cool on a rack.

These are great with Lemon Posset.

This quick and easy lemon mousse-style dessert is fresh, tangy and totally delicious...

Ingredients

1 1/2 pints of double cream
9 oz caster sugar
Juice of 3 lemons

Method

Heat the cream and the sugar together in a pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the lemon juice and mix well.

Leave to cool slightly and then pour into glasses or espresso cups and leave to set in the

fridge.

Easy!

These miniature mountains of joy are light, fluffy and totally addictive...

Ingredients

2 egg whites
5 oz sugar
5 oz coconut

Method

Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold in the sugar followed by the coconut.

Form shapes on a grease-proofed baking sheet.

At the shaping stage you can add food colour for example team colours or green and red at Christmas. Pop a glace cherry on top if you wish.

Bake in a slow oven at about 150 ° C for 3/4 to 1 hour.

Kids LOVE everything about these. Making them is a messy, chocolatey delight and eating them is crunchy, crispy heaven...

Ingredients

1 large bar of Chocolate. Milk, White, Plain... The choice is yours!
Box of corn flakes or rice crispies.
Pack of smarties, mini-eggs, glace cherries, sultanas, banana chips, toasted almonds... Again, the choice is yours!

Method

Break up your chocolate into a pyrex bowl and melt it gently over a bath of boiling water.

Add the cornflakes/crispies (you won’t need the whole box!) and any other tasty bits you want to the chocolate.

Mix until firm enough to form rough shapes.

Place in bun cases on a cool baking sheet and leave them to set.